Russia claims it has killed ISIS commanders in airstrike

Charlie Faulkner — Mail Online Sept 8, 2017

Russia has killed several top Islamic State group commanders in a Syrian air strike, it claimed on Friday.

Both the US-trained ‘minister of war’ Gulmurod Khalimov, who has a $3 million bounty on his head, and the high-profile Islamic State commander Abu-Muhammad al-Shimali were among ‘four influential field commanders are confirmed to be dead’, the Russian defence ministry said in a statement posted on Facebook.

‘As a result of a precision air strike of the Russian air forces in the vicinity of Deir Ezzor city, a command post, communication centre and some 40 ISIS fighters have been killed,’ it said.

‘According to confirmed data, among the killed fighters are four influential field commanders including Deir Ezzor emir Abu Mohammed al-Shimali.’

Comment — Sept 8, 2017

This is all very well, as far as it goes, but like so many Western media reports on the situation in Syria the Mail omits to mention some crucial elements. Foremost among these are numerous reports that U.S. helicopters were helping evacuate besieged ISIS commanders from Deir ez-Zor.

Like they say, “there’s no smoke without fire” and for so many media outlets to report the same thing means that there may be some element of truth in it. Certainly enough to warrant further investigation.

However, the corporate Western media has not only not bothered to investigate these reports, it has studiously avoided any mention of them. By omitting any mention of this the Western corporate media is helping conceal the extent of the collusion between the U.S. and the terrorists it is supposedly fighting.

Reports that the U.S. was helping evacuate ISIS commanders from Deir ez-Zor have been further endorsed by Franz Klintsevich, the first deputy chairman of the Russian Upper House’s Defense and Security Committee.

Speaking to Russia’s Rossiya 24 TV channel Klintsevich suggested that the evacuation may indicate that the US is trying to save its agents and contacts among ISIS commanders in Deir ez-Zor.

“As a person who took part in the 1979-1989 war in Afghanistan, I can say that we constantly felt that Americans were directly supporting the Mujahideen at the time,” he was quoted by ABNA24 as saying. Ed.